A simple test device for analysis of a liquid sample by reaction with a reagent generally utilizes capillary action for introduction or transfer of a sample to a site for reaction with the reagent in the test device. As this test device, there are the-type of device where a reagent applied onto a capillary tube comes to be dissolved in a sample and the type of device where a sample penetrates into a reagent layer provided on a capillary tube.
As an example of the former, JP-A63-274839 describes a test device comprising a lower stretching member also serving as a shaft and an upper member containing a reagent while forming a capillary tube via a spacer with said lower member. As an example of the latter, JP-A 4-188065 describes an analytical device comprising a carrier, a reagent layer sealed to the carrier, and a cover which while covering the reagent layer, is fixed so as to form a capillary chamber with the carrier, said cover having a sample feed opening and an air outlet.
However, in the type of device where a reagent comes to be dissolved in a sample, such as in the test device described in JP-A 63-274839, the concentration of a reaction solution should be accurately defined, so a sample to be fed should previously be introduced into a vessel with a known volume such as pipette. Further, in the type of device where a sample penetrates into a reagent layer, such as in the test device described in JP-A 4-188065, the reagent should be contained in a paper or a film separate from a capillary tube and then fixed to the capillary tube in order to maintain the volume of the reagent layer.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a test device which can easily measure a predetermined amount of a sample and simultaneously analyze the sample without pipetting the sample into another vessel or separately preparing a reagent layer for fixing the sample.